A Cork GP says we must keep up our efforts to suppress COVID-19 while vaccine candidates are examined by regulators.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of the Pfizer/BioNtech jab this morning.
It comes after Irish Government officials said that a priority list for the vaccine will be kept under review as more become available
A report was sent to the Taoiseach yesterday on how the coronavirus vaccine will be rolled out once it's approved.
The task force set up to look at the logistics of how doses would be rolled out detailed how the doses will be delivered, stored and administered and the recommendations will be considered by Cabinet on Tuesday.
Nurses, doctors and pharmacists will issue the jab while a communications campaign and online registration system will form part of the plan.
Dr Nuala O'Connor, who is also the COVID lead for the Irish College of General Practitioners, says the vaccine needs the go-ahead from Irish and European officials before it can be used here.
She told Newstalk Breakfast with Susan Keogh: "The first thing we need to remember here is that so far, there have been 71.5 million cases of COVID worldwide and 1.6 million deaths around the globe.
"In Ireland, we have been relatively protected with just 75,000 cases and just over 2,000 deaths.
"Now it looks like there is very good hope for a safe and effective vaccine.
"I think the most important thing here is that the news is going to be welcomed but with all these things it's important to have a certain amount of caution because they are new vaccines."
European regulators are due to decide whether to approve the Pfizer jab by December 29th and the Government has arranged advance purchase agreements for the jab.
Dr O'Connor said that if "all goes well", we can hopefully expect a vaccine to be rolled out in the second or third week of January.
She added: "We need to allow time for the regulators including, the worldwide and European regulators and our own regulators, the HPRA, to do all their due diligence to make sure they are happy for this vaccine to roll out.
"It's fantastic now that we just heard today that the FDA in the US has approved the Pfizer vaccine, so that's good news."
A phial of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Credit: PA'All hands on deck'
Dr O'Connor said that there "won't be a one size fits all" approach to immunising people, with different measures required to vaccinate older people or those in nursing homes, people with chronic illnesses, or children in schools.
She added that this may include mechanisms to book online to arrange getting the vaccine, with a central database required to monitor who has received the jab.
A COVID-19 vaccine passport will also be needed to allow people to travel abroad.
The roll out may involve GPs, pharmacists and mass vaccinations clinics, including in workplaces, she added.
Dr O'Connor explained: "There's going to be a suite of options, but it's not all going to happen in January, this is going to take six to nine months for us to be able to offer vaccinations to all the eligible population.
"There's time for people to consider, there's time for us to gain more experience with this vaccine as it's rolled out.
Ireland can benefit from the jab already being distributed in other countries, she said, including Britain where Enniskillen native Margaret Keenan became the first member of the public to be vaccinated outside of a clinical trial on Tuesday.
She said: "This is massive, Ireland has never undertaken an immunisation scheme like it."
The Cork GP added that "the vaccine is just one element of the toolbox" in trying to combat the spread of COVID-19.
Dr O'Connor added: "In the meantime, we have to ensure we do the basics and we stop virus numbers starting to rise again."
